FIFY
A boatswain (/ˈboʊsən/ BOH-sən, formerly and dialectally also /ˈboʊtsweɪn/ BOHT-swayn), bo’s’n, bos’n, or bosun, also known as a petty officer, deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department.
A boatswain (/ˈboʊsən/ BOH-sən, formerly and dialectally also /ˈboʊtsweɪn/ BOHT-swayn), bo’s’n, bos’n, or bosun, also known as a petty officer, deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department.
HA HA HA HA! You Win!
You are correct, but it’s still considered one of the definitions of the word.
If you disagree you can take that up with The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
boson
bō′sŏn
noun
- Any of a class of particles, including photons, mesons, or alpha particles, that have integral spins and do not obey the exclusion principle, so that any number of identical particles may occupy the same quantum state.
- A bolt for the crossbow, having a round knob at the end, with a small point projecting from it.
- A corruption of boatswain, representing its common pronunciation.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
Not so simple.
Haven’t read it.
Star Trek monster gif,
Monster? You mean Quark? Ferengi are aliens, and capitalists, but hardly monsters!
As a bonus for the commentors who enjoy the opportunity to post that Star Trek monster gif, the study calls women “female participants” and men "male participants
you can get the raw data here OSF | English_Word_Prevalences.xlsx
the person who made the graph also made some choices
50% of men know the definition of femtosecond? This definitely is not a random sample.
Lets see
Taffeta - one of the characters from Wreck-It Ralph
Bandeau - a tribute band of spandeau ballet
Damask - of Zorro?
Chambray - actor who played Paul Atreides
Kohl - Helmut?
Tulle - make sports equipment and bike racks
Chenille - musician, usually paired with a captain
That was easy
Even if I couldn’t exactly define all of the words, I knew the majority of them well enough through context to have a reasonable clue about their meanings. The only one I was completely unfamiliar with was pessary… and I’m a woman.
It helps that I’ve been a voracious reader since I was smol. My father was an electrical engineer and very fond of WWII movies, so I’m fairly sure I picked up the aviation and electrical lingo from him.
50% of the men responding to this survey claimed to know the definition of femtosecond, or at least to know the word, which I guess really isn’t quite the same thing.
Apparently Kohl is a form of eye makeup.
Ah, but boson is a subatomic particle, not a naval position. Unless, as @lava points out, you allow for corruption, in which case, anything goes, I guess!
Oops. And I even edited the comment to remove the other place I wrote females…
Also a really crappy department store
I thought Kohls were pioneers of Cryptocurrency in the form Kohls Cash.
Bosuns in the Royal Navy were officers, until (I think) a few years after WW2. Warrant officers rather than commissioned, but officers nonetheless.